MLB Player News

Grisham was pulled from Wednesday’s contest due to discomfort in his left knee and the was held out of the lineup on Thursday as a precautionary measure. He’s back atop the Yankees’ lineup on Friday and starting in center field against Rays’ right-hander Nick Martinez.

The Giants are calling the issue minor, and the 25-year-old backstop is considered day-to-day. For the season, Susac is slashing .262/.310/.330 with zero homers, 14 RBI and a 27/6 K/BB ratio over his first 115 plate appearances with the Giants.

Morel lost his bench spot on the Marlins’ roster when Griffin Conine returned from the injured list. The 27-year-old slugger hit a paltry .162/.219/.206 with zero homers, one RBI and a 28/4 K/BB ratio in 73 plate appearances with the Marlins. The expectation is that he’ll refuse the outright assignment and hit the free agent market.

Butler was on the wrong side of what was the game’s biggest play through six; with the bases loaded and two outs, he came up a little short on a diving attempt at Jung Hoo Lee’s liner to right and had the ball get by him for a three-run triple. The Giants were up 6-2 at that point, but the A’s came back with two in the seventh. In the eighth, Butler doubled to the wall in center. It looked like Jonah Cox had it all of the way, but he missed it at the end. Butler then came around to score on a Jeff McNeil single. In the ninth, Butler had the third of four singles off Caleb Kilian, giving the A’s a 7-6 lead. Butler is batting .342 with two homers, four doubles and two steals in his last 13 games, raising his OPS from .489 to .585. He needs to stay hot to ensure that he keeps starting against righties after Brent Rooker returns, but things are finally looking up.

It was one-run through five, but while facing the top of the lineup for the third time, he allowed a walk and a single with one out in the sixth. He was pulled then and both runners came around to score after he left. It makes one wonder why Mark Kotsay left him in the game in the first place if he didn’t trust him to carry on at 87 pitches, especially since his next batter was a lefty he’d already retired twice in Rafael Devers. Springs wasn’t involved in the decision today, but he has dropped seven in a row after opening the season 3-0. Even with the late runs scoring, this still rates as his best outing in June. He’ll take a 5.52 ERA into his next start against the Dodgers.

The A’s scored four times in the top of the ninth to go from trailing by one to creating a pretty easy save chance. They could have turned to usual suspects Hogan Harris or Elvis Alvarado at that point, but both pitched last night. Barnett got the chance and handled it quickly. His previous save came on June 9, when he pitched the final two innings of a 7-5 game. He’s probably still behind Harris and Alvarado in line for saves, but at least he’s in the mix. It is possible he could be stretched back out as a rotation candidate at some point.

Both runs came in the fifth, when he gave up three of his six hits on the afternoon. He departed with a four-run lead after six, but that was blown after the A’s scored twice in the seventh, once in the eighth and four times in the ninth. Incredibly, the Giants have lost 10 straight games started by Roupp, with the right-hander posting a 5.11 ERA in the process. His rotation spot is probably still secure, so he should face the Diamondbacks on Tuesday.

The rally started with a broken-bat infield single. Kilian got two outs afterward, but then Tyler Soderstrom walked on an overturned strike and three more singles followed. Only Johan Heim’s 98-mph grounder past Matt Chapman at third was hit hard. The last was a fly to shallow left that Victor Bericoto, who is already slower than most outfielders, didn’t get a good jump on. It really just wasn’t Kilian’s day, but it shouldn’t hurt his stock overly much. He still might be available to close Friday after throwing 23 pitches in this one.

The homer was a solo shot, as 11 of his 14 have been this season. That and a .189 average with runners on help explain why he has just 32 RBI this season. He had 112 in his final year in Milwaukee and 87 while hitting 30 homers last year.

Peralta struggled to a 10.13 ERA, 1.88 WHIP and a 4/2 K/BB ratio over 2 2/3 innings during his brief time with the Rockies this season. He was removed from the club’s 40-man roster and passed through waivers without being claimed. It’s unknown yet whether Peralta will accept that assignment or look for a better opportunity elsewhere on the open market.

Solak was designated for assignment on Sunday and passed through waivers unclaimed. As of now, it appears as though the veteran utilityman will accept the assignment and continue to serve as extra depth for the Padres at the Triple-A level.